Canes, crutches, walking sticks, and similar locomotion aides have been available to assist the elderly (and others) in walking and otherwise moving about since time immemorial. Relatively recently, canes have been designed to be self-standing, utilizing multiple legs and feet (or ferrules) to enhance the stability of the cane itself and also that of the user thereof For example, a common quad cane is designed with a small rectangular platform attached at the bottom of the shaft and has four ferrules, one at each corner, which extend downwards therefrom and contact the ground.
However, traditional canes and even the newer enhanced canes (such as the quad cane mentioned above) have a number of limitations. Most canes are simple devices that provide only a supportive structure to help a user balance and/or to allow the user to support some of his or her weight with the arm/hand rather than via the legs/feet. Such simple canes address only one aspect of the locomotion/health care problem: that of unsteady walking. Yet there are many other aspects that can contribute to fall susceptibility for a given person: vision impairment, lessened sensitivity in the feet, lessened sense of balance, and increased susceptibility to changes in pulse rate and blood pressure. Traditional canes can not warn the vision impaired user of approaching obstacles, drop-offs, changes in elevation, etc. Nor do such traditional devices provide light to help the user navigate in dim, treacherous conditions. Additionally, prior art devices do not incorporate other health assistance devices that further facilitate safe locomotion, such as: a pulse rate sensor, logic to determine a safe pulse rate zone, warnings if the pulse rate is out of said zone, health data collection, alerts when it is time to take medication, temperature, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, or other enhancements.
What is needed is a locomotion safety and health assistant device that can address the above deficiencies.